Aiko: Hello world. Where I'm from in Japan,
this is what a famous hot springs town is like.
Greg: Before we start though, we first need to get there. So let's go back to Tokyo.
Yep - right in the middle of all this grey.
While a lot of places in Japan are easily accessible by trains, buses and boats,
for our family of four, we decided to visit Kusatsu by car.
So we rented a car and popped onto the tolled freeway system.
Where you can stop and pay cash, most use an ETC-card, which stands for 'Electronic Toll Collection'.
There are two things about the freeways that were quite fascinating to this Canadian.
The first is the look: These tall paneled walls made me feel like I was in some futuristic landscape.
Those panels are actually sound walling, to protect the areas from freeway noise.
Virtually the entire Canadian highway system is at ground level,
so around Tokyo being high up in the sky, this is something quite different.
The second is: The SA's. Which stands for service areas.
These are literally right off the highway, so there's little travel time wasted and no chance of getting lost.
Clean bathrooms, vending machines, restaurants,
gift shops with local goods, gas and all organized modern and I'll say this again...
...clean!
Aiko (daughter): Well like, they had nice toilets, oh it was like...
Greg: Yeah I know, because the peeing. ~Aiko is laughing~ G: I don't want to show them.
Aiko: I like, it tell's you where is open or where's not and yeah, it was pretty good.
Greg: It's so much space, right? It's so big. Aiko: Yeah, so big.
Aiko: And they have a lots of food and like uhm, stuff that is famous like in uhm, ...
Greg: Ah, like famous local products. Aiko: Yeah!
Greg: Stuff they only make in Gunma. Aiko: Ja.
Greg: Now vending machines. There's lots of vending machines. Isn't that cool?
Aiko: Yeah, you can get a lots of things that you want.
Greg: And what about this one that Shin's using?
Aiko: Uhm, it's a food machine. So you can get food. But my mommy says there is...
Greg: Cockroaches? Aiko: Jaja, cockroaches.
Go inside and then like they eat or like they do 'poo' inside,
so it's [pretty dirty], so you shouldn't eat it.
~Greg's laughing~
Aiko: So I never did that before.
Greg: Traveling the toll highway was nice, but it ended sooner than I thought.
So for the second half of the trip - we ended up driving on regular roads through towns and villages.
Which was in truth a welcome change in atmosphere. From the elevated highways we got off of.
And the nice thing, is that we could stop by at anything interesting, that we came across.
Aiko: There is a big, uhm, place like a river, but they will build in it - so water comes inside.
Greg: They're going to build a dam you mean? Aiko: Yeah.
Greg: Everything you see here will actually be covered in water pretty soon, ...
... once they dam it and create a new lake.
Aiko: I like tunnels because, it looks like - nighttime - and I like driving at night time.
Greg: After passing through some tunnels,
and in climbing up some mountains,
we came upon - Kusatsu.
While it was spring like in Tokyo, Kusatsu was still covered in snow.
Even though we had rented a car, we wanted a location we could walk from.
And thankfully the ryokan we were staying at, was within a seven-minute walking distance to Yubatake.
Which is the famous hot water field in the center of all the action.
The kids were splendidly surprised to see all the snow around town.
To the kids: "Let's go "
Aiko: Sacco. Greg: Soccer?
G: Is that we are you're playing soccer? A: Yeah, Ice sacco.
To Aiko: "Now you lost yours."
Greg: They were climbing it, stomping around in it, kicking it,
and even though I don't have to footage of it, you can be sure they were munching on it as well,
to the horror of their mother of course!
~kids laughing, having fun running around~
Eventually the craziness had to end, as we neared the hot water field in the center of town.
I guess you might be wondering: "Why they have all these rows of wooden boxes?".
They're there to cool down the water, as well as to collect the minerals and sell them.
Around 5,000 litres of water per minute come out of the ground here.
In the Kusatsu area in total, there are about 100 hot springs producing 34 thousand litres of water per minute.
This is not simply hot water, but a very sulfurous and acidic - hot water.
Greg to Shin: "You ready?" Shin: "Yeah!"
~coins are ringing as they hitting the wall while Shin's throwing~
Shin: "I'll get one!" Greg: "Yeahy."
In the Yubatake, you'll see the dried mineral sediment, which is mostly sulfur.
This is collected and sold as - Yu no Hana (湯の花).
And it's a powder that's used to make your very own Onsen at home.
The water is around 54°C (129°F) out of the ground, which is much too hot to bathe in.
Aiko: So they doing I think called - Yu-momi (湯もみ) - and like there is, well like, water that's hot.
And then if they do that, that makes it colder, so you can go in.
~woman singing traditional/ritual song~ ~clapping wood as it turns~
Greg: The audience also get's a chance to participate. Unluckily for Shin, we were too far away on the upper level, to get there in time.
~Crowd and woman singing~ ~sound of clapping hands and turning wood~
~chill backround music~
~snow brock sliding over asphalt~
One of the things that [chins] Kusatsu has a cool town to visit, was the scenic and narrow streets...
... along with all the little shops and ryokans
Nowadays, so many places in Japan have the same stores. So it was refreshing to see a distinctive lack of Starbucks or McDonald's.
~backround music~
Greg: What are these guys doing here? Aiko: Well, they have, uhm samples for tha manjū.
And so they want us to buy it, ...
... but a lot of people just take it because it's free.
so they won't buy it, so like ...
Greg: Kind alike when you go to Costco? ~laughs~ Aiko: Yeah they don't buy it. The just eat it.
Gregt: Did we buy any manjūs? Aiko: No, we just ate it.
Greg: You're wrong though, because mommy wanted manjū to bring back for...
... uh for your auntie, Oba-chan. And so I did end up buying like 18 manjū.
Aiko: Wow! Greg: So it worked! Aiko: Yah.
Asks Aiko: "He doesn't wanna eat it?"
~japanese words~
Aiko: He doesn't like umm, the azuki beans? Greg: Anko? Aiko: Yeah.
~Greg laughing~
Greg to Shin: "You don't like you don't like it Shin?"
~japanese chatting~ ~as camera zooms in, Greg makes grimly sound~
Aiko: "He never eat it before!" Greg: "Is this first time?" A: "He never ate." G: "Even I eat it."
~background music~ ~water flowing by from right site~
One of the coolest parts about the trip, was walking along the riverbed in Sai no Kawara kouen (西の河原公園).
which means 'western riverbed park'.
Along the winding path, you can see pools of acidic water and how it discolores the environment.
~splashy noise of water running dwon~
It was a treat to see the steam rising from the water,
and even catch a glimpse of where the hot spring water bubbles up from.
Greg: Did you actually touch the bubbly part? Aiko: No, but...
~Mother calling out~ Greg responing: "It's OK, it's ok, it's ok."
Aiko: Mommy didn't let Shin go in.
Greg: What kind of different colors do you see in the pools of water?
Aiko: I saw green ...
and I saw some white powder, too.
Greg: Now when you guys touch the water, was it... cold? Hot? Like what temperature?
Aiko: Well, it was like, ...
well, 42°C (108°F)?!
Greg: That's what you think? Aiko: Yah.
G: So it's like when you go to a bath in japan like that temperatures? A: yes
Greg: Oh, so it's quite hot then. Aiko: Yeah, but not that hot.
G: So it won't burn you. A: Ya, you warm up.
Aiko: I thought, if there's hot water, why the... uhm the snow won't melt. Like it was really hot.
~music~
~noise of flowing water~
~Shin is yelling "SNOW! Snow, snow, snow!"~
Greg: Almost anywhere you go in Japan, it seems you're never too far away
from shrines and temples from the Shinto and Buddhist religions.
~calm noise of splashing water out of the wooden pipe~
~back ground music and water flowing~
~coin falls into shrine~
~the bell is ringing as Aiko ruttles it~ ~hands clapping~
~bell's ringign as Shin ruttles it~
Aiko: Stairs was too, uhm snowy and then like all the person slip like the ladies.
and then, but the boys like, they just run down.
Greg: So how was the food?
Aiko: Well, it was like, uhm food from a long time ago. Like dinner but, like breakfast is like...
... american sausage or like, ...
[when there's sausage, there's beacon and then scrambled eggs like that.]
~distant sound of fireworks exploding (~2 seconds delay)~
Greg: What do you think about the fireworks?
Aiko: Well it was pretty, but uhm I like the ones more in Tokyo?! Greg: How come?
A: Well because they have lots of different ones.
Like this one had like the same one.
And like, I didn't know when it's gonna be over because I it stops, ...
and they like oh it's over, but it goes again then it come back and then it's like that. So we didn't know when it's gonna be over.
Aiko: A lot of people at night because like it looks cool. I'm in the night.
A: Well you can put your feet in, in the water and then so like you can get warm.
Greg: Did you try that? Aiko: No, because you didn't let me.
G: I didn't? Ah maybe it was mommy.
G: I would have let you, but I think we were kind of busy that's why. A. Yeah.
Greg: What do you think about walking through the steam? How was that?
Aiko: It was warm but, ...
... uhm because like the outside's cold, so if you go in warm things, if you go out of it, ...
and it makes like you colder and then you're so cold.
Greg: I think Kusatsu does a great job of making nighttime at Yubatake.
Just as fascinating as daytime.
All the people taking pictures and walking around in yukatas,
really made for a pleasant atmosphere.
Shin: It's like a fart park.
Greg: A fart park? Shin: Yah?!
~Greg's laughing~ G: Did it smell? S: So smelly.
G: Really? S: Yeah!
Greg: Okay yeah. There is a part like smell to the sulfur,
... but it's not as strong as Shin is implying. So don't worry.
Aiko: So like it was warm and like it was kind of fun.
Because there's lots of rocks. So and we can go on.
Greg: "Shin, we gotta hurry up now, mommy says."
Greg: What did you think about the snow?
Aiko: Well it was cool because uhm, ...
I live in Tokyo and it doesn't snow very much
Greg: So what was it like going in the onsen?
Aiko: Well it's hot and if you go too much, you get unconscious.
G: Yeah maybe I think they said like five or ten minutes at a time?
A: Yeah because mommy said she almost got drowned and then her friends got her up.
G: What about the feel of the water like? A: It kind of feel different.
A: My skin kind of feels like not itchy like something that's [pulling me¿].
G: Yeah it's kind of like stingy? A: Yeah yeah yeah.
G: How was the water, Shin?
Shin: If I go out, it would my hair do stuff will be [outdo?].
Greg: Before Kusatsu, we had been to quite a few hot springs.
But I can tell you,
this is the first time I visited one, where I've really felt a difference with my skin.
My skin was as smooth as the cheeks on my kids...
Their... their face cheeks by the way. Not... not the other ones.
Kusatsu's water has been studied for it's healing properties for ailments ranging from stiff shoulders,
to burns and bruises, to hemorrhoids, amongst a laundry list of others.
Beyond bathing, the hot spring water is also used in the heating of schools, institutions, some homes and to clear the streets of snow.
One thing to note is that if you're a guy, the open air 'Sai no kawara roten-buro' is in fact viewable from the hiking trail alongside it.
But ladies, don't fret, your side is completely private.
Aiko: So it was fun, because like well, I travel lots of places, but
I don't think I traveled a place like that.
Greg: This is my first time like to a place like a hot spring town that's like that, yeah.
A: Yeah, so it was quite fun.
Aiko: Thanks for watching. See you next time. Byeee.
A: What are hot springs like we're from?
~woman singing. Wood clapping as it turns~
Shin: [Daddy, ??? is stinky too?] Greg: Yeah Shin. [wow/why?]
Greg: Shin when you talk you have to be in front of this...